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You also did not say what time of the year. Fall is great with festivals the first 2 weekends.

In Iowa. Lansing is a nice town with nice places to get coffee and lunch/breakfast.

Stop in McGregor. Definitely eat at the Twisted Chicken. Yes that is the same of the restaurant. And if you go for dinner it is best to get reservations. They change their menu everyday. Meals from $16-30. Worth every penny. They even rent rooms.

Go up to the top of Pike's Peak STate Park. Nice view any time of the year.

Clayton has a great B&B the Claytonian (address is actually Granvillo in the phonebook).

Have lunch in Guttenberg on the river.

Have dessert in Balltown at Breitbach's, 6 generation restaurant. they make homemade pie. Check first they have had some drama in the past few years. Had a fire and burnt down the original oldest bar in Iowa. Rebuilt. Burnt down again. B&B in an old rectory (Heavenlee B&B).

Dubuque, IA has the GReat Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium. Good for the whole family. The large hotel there (cant remember name) has a water park indoors.

Prarie du Chien, WI is nice.

If you cross further down take the Cassville ferry (not sure of hours)

You can also cross at Cassville to WI side and miss Balltown.

Drive down IL side and hit Galena. lots of tourist shops and restaurants. but nice town.

Need to go through Sabula either way. Sabula is Iowa's only island city.

Savanna, IL is home to Poopies Bar and Grill. Kind of a Harley shop/restaurant. Music on the weekend. Not really a children's place at night but fine for food. That way you can get a T-shirt that says you ate a Poopie burger.

Le Claire/Princeton IA has lots of nice shops and restaurants to eat.

Fort Madison has a fort to tour. Historic Hotel on the riverfront. Great restaurant in it. Starts with an A. Sorry.

Navuvoo, IL is a Mormon settlement. They have an old village that is a tourist site. Show how to make bricks, blacksmithing, candlemaking, etc.. Good for the whole family.

The hotel by the museum is the Grand Harbor. There is a great place to eat on Hwy 35 just outside E. Dubuque. It is called Thumser's 19th Hole. Great hand patty burgers!! The meat is ground on site. They also have an adjacent miniature golf course.

Taking Hwy 61/151 to I-80 to I-55 takes 5-6 hours depending on traffic and construction. So taking the GRR I'd gestimate 8-12 hours depending on stops, sightseeing, etc.. Which side do you plan to take; Iowa or Illinois? That will also make a difference in driving time.

Personally, I'd do the Illinois side. It's not because I'm from Illinois.

I drove a portion of the Iowa side (Burlington to Muscatine) a month or so ago, and the road had some problems due to the serious flooding a year ago. There were at least a couple of bridges that I thought... "gee, do I REALLY want to drive across this one?"... Places along the roadway had pavement sections with big chunks still missing, and sidings were not in good condition either.

Now, I've not driven the Illinois side in a long time since the 4-lane has been opened just west of Macomb, all the way down to Hannibal. I know that some Illinois towns were hit hard by the flood waters as well. Roads may (or may not) be in the same situation as I saw in Iowa. I don't know. I'm just going from my personal experience about a month ago.

Enjoy your trip. Do think about stopping at one of the locks and dams, as it was always fun, when I was a kid, to go and watch the barges come through the locks. Interesting!